


All I Want

by lethargicProfessor



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, the modern!au no one asked for
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-27
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-04-11 12:17:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 11,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4435160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lethargicProfessor/pseuds/lethargicProfessor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No one told Kanda that having roommates would be the worst decision of his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

No one told Kanda that having roommates would be the worst decision of his life.

They were all terrible people, though, if his adopted brother Daisya was to be believed, he deserved it because he was “pretty fucking awful too.”

Alma, that traitor, merely laughed and told him that it was just karma coming bite him when he least expected it. Then, of course, he would try to bite him and laugh when Kanda shoved him away. But whether it was karma or not, Kanda couldn’t think of a single reason as to why he deserved so much shit in his life.

“Why the fuck are you wearing my clothes?” He asked for the third time that morning, feeling a throbbing in his forehead that he was quickly coming to associate with his terrible roommates.

Lavi, asshole number three in the household, smiled sheepishly as he made his way to the fridge, wearing a pair of pants that were more than a few sizes too small.  “I, uh, couldn’t find any of mine. Sorry, Yu.”

Belatedly, Kanda wondered how he got them on in the first place. While he was only an inch shorter than the redhead, Lavi was broader than Kanda, and had a good ten pounds over him too. As he watched him putter around the kitchen, Kanda considered just burning everything he owned. Especially those pants. “They don’t _fit_ you. You couldn’t even button them, you fuck.”

Lavi shrugged, pouring himself coffee. “Ain’t my fault. _Someone_ didn’t do the laundry this week.”

Asshole number two smiled sweetly at him as he devoured his breakfast. “I already apologized, you know. I’ll do it tonight.”

“That’s what you said yesterday, Allen,” Lenalee pointed out, sitting across from him at the kitchen table. Kanda’s shirt slid off her shoulder, yet another reminder that he lived with a bunch of assholes.

Allen shrugged, reaching up to snatch Lavi’s coffee cup as he wandered past. Lavi heaved a sigh but let him keep it, walking back to the coffee machine. “I was busy yesterday.”

“You’re not wearing my clothes again,” Kanda threatened, sitting at the table with a huff. Allen ignored him as he adjusted the tie and blazer he had appropriated from Kanda’s closet. While not as small as Lenalee, the clothes still fit him a bit too big.

“I mean it!” Lenalee smiled at him, patting his shoulder as she stood. She moved to leave the kitchen, but stopped behind him, slipping the hair tie off his head. His outraged sputter did nothing to deter her, and she giggled as she skipped away.

“Fucking assholes.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Do not try this at home.

“Esteemed friends! I present to you the _piece de resistance_!” Lavi winked, depositing the bottle of tequila with a solid thump on the coffee table.

Allen and Alma oohed and aahed at the appropriate times while Kanda inspected the bottle critically. “It’s not gonna be enough.”

“I bought two, just in case.” Lavi cleared his throat, setting his hands on his hips as he stood in front of the TV. “So! The rules, so that everyone is clear and we don’t have anyone bitching tomorrow morning when you can’t remove yourself from the bathroom floor.”

“Rule the first!” He turned, pointing at Lenalee. “Lena doesn’t participate. If you are seen giving Miss Lee a shot, you are automatically disqualified.”

Lenalee scoffed indignantly as the others nodded. “That’s _rude_.”

“We aren’t having a repeat of last time,” Kanda muttered, stretching out on the floor. “You give new meaning to the word ‘lightweight’.”

“Rule the second!” Lavi continued over Lenalee’s complaints. “You must take the shot as per the drinking game rules. No ‘I’ll take two next time’. And you can’t make Kanda take the shot for you.”

Allen at least had the decency to look embarrassed. “Rule the third! This is a marathon. We’re watching nine hours of this, so you know what you’re getting yourself into. If you need to tap out then do it. Or don’t.” Lavi shrugged, tapping the bottle. “It’s your liver on the line, not mine.”

“Except you’re drinking too.” Lenalee said, stretching out on the couch.

“Yes I am.” Lavi hummed, glancing around the room. “That’s about it, I guess. Any questions?”

“Drinking game rules.” Kanda said, pouring out shots in the multicolored glasses they had for the occasion. “What are we drinking to.”

“Right!” The redhead scrolled through his phone, tongue sticking out in concentration. “Here we go. Lena, since you’re gonna be the only sober person  in the room, you’re in charge.”

“I hope you pass out.” She said, rolling her eyes as she caught the phone. “I just call them out?”

“Yep.” With a flourish, he sat down on the floor, sliding shots down the line. “Let’s do this thing!”

* * *

 

“Aragorn does something badass! Shots!” Lenalee shouted, pointing at the screen.

Allen wheezed, fumbling for another shot. “I hate everything….”

Alma slid under the coffee table, groaning under his breath. “I’m done, I can’t, please no more Legolas…”

“Alma’s out! Fellowship on screen, take a shot!” Kanda grunted, patting Alma’s head roughly as he took another shot, shuddering. Lavi choked on his shot, thumping his chest.

“Something badass!” Really, it should be illegal how much entertainment Lenalee was squeezing out of watching her friends slowly collapse in a drunken stupor.

Allen gurgled weakly, tipping over on his side. “Fuck Tolkien…”

Kanda huffed, muttering under his breath, and took hold of the half-empty bottle of tequila, chugging it instead of bothering to fumble for the shot glasses strewn around the coffee table’s immediate area.

Lavi looked up at him in wonder, shaking his head slowly. “We are not worthy….”

The bad thing about being the only sober person in the room was the aftermath. Sighing, Lenalee stacked up sticky shot glasses, stepping over the splayed bodies of her roommates.

Kanda was curled up tight around Alma, nuzzling the spot between his shoulder blades. Alma didn’t seem to mind much, petting Kanda’s hands lightly as he continued to watch _Lord of the Rings_ in a drunken haze.

Lavi had somehow gotten himself upright, leaning heavily against the couch, but he wasn’t even pretending to watch the movie anymore. His head lolled as he followed her movements, groaning softly. “I’m so guttered…”

She hummed, smoothing his hair back. “Is that Scottish for fucked up?”

He nodded, groaning at the motion. “I feel like I’m burnin’ up... Is everyone still alive?”

“Seems like it.” She glanced up at Allen, sprawled out across the loveseat. “Allen, are you alive?”

He groaned into the cushions, shooting her a thumbs up. “If you can call it that.”

“I can’t believe how much you drank,” Lenalee snatched the bottles from the floor. There was only an inch or so left from the second bottle, and she swirled it around for a second before Lavi tugged it away.

“You aren’t drinkin’. I mean it.” With a shudder, he tipped the bottle back, chugging down the leftovers.

Lenalee flicked his ear. “None of you are sleeping in my room tonight.”

* * *

 

“I hate you all so much,” Lenalee sighed, rolling over as Allen collapsed on the bed. “If you throw up here you’re all dead to me.”

“Shh…Less talk, more sleep.” Allen muttered into her shoulder, plucking Kanda’s arm from her waist to nestle closer. Kanda pinched his arm lightly, disgruntled, but threw his arm around Allen too.

Lavi shuffled in seconds later, delicately placing a pillow on Allen before collapsing on top. Allen wheezed as the air was squeezed out of him, but felt an inkling of satisfaction when Kanda jabbed him in the ribs.

Lenalee sighed, relaxing as they dozed off. It would be hell in the morning for all of them, but for now, at least, it was nice.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now with [fanart](http://lpwrites.tumblr.com/post/147166472891/kandayuu-a-gift-of-ass-for-lethargicprofessor)

Lenalee loves living with her boys. She does.  She can’t picture her life without them, because they _are_ her life.

She loves them to bits, except when she doesn’t, because somehow her clothes are always missing, and she’s pretty sure they’re taking them.

In fact, when she goes to confront them, she spots Lavi wearing what appears to be her yoga pants. “Lavi, what the hell.”

Instantly he looks up, a deer caught in the headlights, and smiles hesitantly. “Hey…?”

“Why are you wearing my pants?” She asks, and in the back of her mind she’s trying to figure out how he even managed to get them on.

Lavi glances down. “Wow. How’d those get there?”

“Stop stealing my clothes.” They don’t even fit him! He’s at least a foot taller and broader than her, why is he wearing her clothes?

“C’mon,” he whines, sprawling out on the floor, looking up at her piteously. “Yuu won’t let me borrow his anymore, and Al’s hipster wardrobe makes me sad.”

“You’re wearing yoga pants at least three sizes too small for you,” she points out, and notices regretfully that they’re her favorite pair.

He whines some more and she returns to her room, trying to figure out how to roommate-proof her drawers.

* * *

The yoga pants are missing the next laundry day, and she goes after Lavi with a vengeance.

“I don’t have them!” He sputters, hands covering his head as she whacks him with a pillow. “Honest!”

“Then who does?” She asks, disheveled and annoyed because really, they’re roommates but there’s limits to what they can do.

“Allen.” Lavi says, flinching as she raises the pillow again. “It’s him, go destroy him!”

Wary, she leaves his room, tossing the pillow at his face in farewell.

Allen’s in the kitchen, cooking with his laptop on the counter, and yes, those are her yoga pants. She stands in front of the counter, arms crossed, and waits for him to look up. “Why did you take my pants?”

Allen doesn’t even bother looking apologetic. “They’re comfortable.”

“I know that, that’s why I got them.” She feels her head start to throb, and she has to restrain herself from punting all of them out of a window.

Allen grins, sweet as can be, and continues his recipe. “Lavi takes them all the time, I just figured I could too.”

“You can’t. And he can’t either!” She calls down the hall, receiving a thump in response.

“Can Kanda? Because if he can, that’s just not fair,” Allen says, pointing his mixing spoon at her. “That’s called despotism.”

“It’s really not!” Lavi calls from his room.

Allen and Lenalee ignore him. “Kanda can’t wear my clothes either.”

“Why the fuck not?” Kanda asks, walking past. His hair is a sloppy mess and he looks exhausted, but there he goes, also wearing a pair of Lenalee’s pajama pants. “You take our shit all the time.”

“You took my Doctor Who shirt to sleep in,” Allen points out.

“And my Star Wars pajamas!” Lavi adds, walking into the room. “And Yuu’s sweaters.”

“All of my fucking sweaters are in your closet,” Kanda yawns, staring at the counter filled with bowls and cooking implements in bemusement. “What’re you doing, Gordon Ramsey? It looks like Martha Stewart threw up in our kitchen.”

“That’s funny, and I hope you remember how funny it was when you don’t get any dinner,” Allen snipes at him, clearing off a small spot on the counter anyways. Kanda grunts, shrugging.

Lenalee’s headache gets worse. “Can we get back to the problem of you stealing my clothes? They don’t even fit on you!”

“Yeah, but they’re comfortable.” Lavi begins clearing off more of the counter space, peering at Allen’s screen. “So there.”

“Also, these make my ass look fantastic,” Allen says, and a part of Lenalee worries that she can’t tell if he’s being serious or not.

Thoroughly bested, she decides to drop the subject, and resort to stealing more of their shit in return.


	4. Chapter 4

“Fuck you!” Kanda snarled, knuckles white from the grip on the steering wheel, stomping on the brakes as another car cut him off. They watched the car speed across the intersection on a yellow light, leaving them to slowly roll to a stop at the red.

“Fuck me,” Kanda whispered, thumping his head back against his seat.

Lenalee, sitting in the passenger seat with her feet braced against the dashboard and glovebox, wheezed. “ _Every_  time…”

“For such a safe driver, Yuu, you have a lot of close calls,” Lavi noted, draped easily over Kanda’s seat. Kanda grunted in response, stomping on the gas once the light turned green.

Only Lenalee caught the brief smirk he gave at Lavi’s startled swear as the motion sent him rolling across the van.

“Really though,” Allen muttered, gripping the back of Lenalee’s seat for dear life. “You’re supposed to be the  _good_  driver out of us.”

“I am,” Kanda ground out, changing lanes smoothly. “I’m a great driver. It’s everyone else that sucks  _ass_!”

They watched as a car zoomed off around them, apparently fed up with waiting for Kanda to drive faster. Kanda growled, stomping on the gas, glaring after the car. “It’s called the speed limit, asshole. Not speed suggestion!”

Lavi, recovered from his previous spill, sprawled out in the back. “I love it when you drive us around, Kanda.”

“I hate it,” he replied, shooting him a dour glare through the rearview mirror. “You losers need to learn to drive so that I don’t have to.”

“I have my license,” Lenalee pointed out, reaching behind her seat to squeeze Allen’s hands playfully.

Kanda scoffed. “You bribed someone to get your license. I’ve seen you drive. You should  _not_  be street legal.”

“I’ve never felt so close to death than in those moments with Lenalee behind the wheel,” Allen said, eyes glazing over as he fought a shudder. Lavi cackled, grunting when Kanda took another turn too sharply.

“You’re rude,” Lenalee huffed, turning in her seat to glance into the back of the van. “Doesn’t Lavi have his license?”

“Nope.” He beamed at her, righting himself carefully. “Never bothered getting it.”

“Which is ridiculous since you’re absurdly good at driving.” Allen added, knocking his shoe against Lavi’s leg.

“It’s more fun being driven around.” Lavi shrugged. “It’s a little like being famous.”

“I doubt any famous person would willingly drive around in a stoner van.” Allen laughed, squawking indignantly when Kanda reached back to smack him.

“I hate all of you,” he deadpanned, pulling up to their apartment complex. “I’m never driving you anywhere ever again.”

“He says,” Lenalee mock-narrated, kicking the passenger door open and jumping out into the cool night. “But just wait.”

“Yeah, buddy,” Lavi climbed out the back of the van, helping Allen down. “You’re stuck with us forever.”

Allen had never seen such a look of despair on Kanda’s face.  It was beautiful.


	5. Chapter 5

He feels more than hears Kanda shuffle into the kitchen, the hairs at the back of his neck standing up seconds before his chair screeches on the tile. “Good morning, Yuu.”

“Why are you shirtless, you fucking abomination,” Kanda responds.

Lavi glances down at himself -- because, yes, he is shirtless, it’s not a _crime --_ and glances back at Kanda, who appears to be drowning in one of Marie’s old sweaters. “Are you cold?”

“How are you not?” He snaps, tucking his nose into the collar of his sweater. His hands are drawn into his sleeves, and as Lavi watches, he manages to scrunch himself deeper into his sweater. His voice is reproachful as he glares at Lavi. “Just looking at you makes me cold.”

Lavi rolls his eyes, busying himself with making coffee for himself and tea for Kanda. “It’s only 60 degrees out.”

“That’s cold!” Kanda insists, and retreats further into his sweater shell, only moving to wrap his sleeves around the proffered mug of tea.

“You’re always cold. The only time you’re not cold is when it’s the middle of July and the asphalt starts melting.” Lavi doesn’t catch his response, lost as it is in the thick fleece of Kanda’s jacket. “Are you going to help me make breakfast?”

“I guess.” Kanda heaves a world-weary sigh but gets up, rolling his sleeves. They fall into a familiar rhythm, an amiable silence falling between them as the sounds of cooking fill the air.

Allen shuffles in to the kitchen, summoned by the smells of breakfast. He’s still half-asleep, clearly, and his hair is mussed beyond repair, the soft white strands sticking every which way, stark against his brown cheeks. He makes a small sound that could have been a greeting, and drops unceremoniously onto his chair.

Kanda rolls his eyes, walking over with a mug of coffee for the kid. “Why is everyone in this apartment so weird?”

“I seem to recall some saying about pots and kettles? Does that ring a bell?” Kanda’s irritated huff makes him laugh. “Is Lena awake yet?”

“Yes.” Icy fingers press into Lavi’s back, and he can’t stop the startled yelp that follows. Lenalee hums, smothering a yawn into his shoulder as her fingers trace icy trails down his sides. “You’re warm…”

“Get your cold hands off me!” Huffing indignantly, Lenalee shambles away, laying her cold hands on Allen’s neck next. He whines in discomfort, but she holds him down, draping herself across the back of his chair, sucking the warmth out of him like a leech.

“Why is it so cold out?” She sighs, resting her chin on top of Allen’s head, wiggling her hands under the collar of his shirt.

“Why are you doing this to me?” He mumbles, too tired to resist. “What have I ever done to hurt you?”

Kanda rolls his eyes again, sharing a look with Lavi. “Fucking weird.”

Lavi’s inclined to agree.


	6. Chapter 6

“We need to stop doing this.”

Allen ignored him, climbing into the shopping cart. Lenalee hummed vaguely, physically moving his hands onto the bar, ducking under his arms. “Push,” she ordered, half-asleep as she stood on the metal bar under the cart, leaning against his chest.

Lavi rolled his eyes, pushing the cart obediently, letting her brace against him. “Did you hear me?”

“You say that, but we do it anyways,” Allen yawned, pulling his hood over his head. “Also, we lost Kanda.”

Lavi groaned, stopping the cart. “Yuu…!”

It was a testament to how tired he was that Kanda didn’t react to the use of his first name. He mumbled half-heartedly, dragging himself to the cart. His hair was in a sloppy braid, and he blinked owlishly at him as he gripped the cart.

The grocery store was nearly deserted, with only a couple of bored teens manning the two open registers. Lavi sighed into Lenalee’s hair, slowly pushing the cart down the empty aisles. “This needs to _stop_.”

“No one does groceries at normal hours anymore,” Allen muttered, twisting himself around so his legs dangled off the sides of the cart. Kanda grunted in assent, shuffling alongside the cart.

“We don’t have time to do groceries together during the day,” Lenalee pointed out, trying not to fall off the cart. Lavi sighed again, shifting his grip to support her better. “We have to do it together, you know that.”

“Kanda for sure isn’t allowed to go shopping alone,” Allen said, swatting at Kanda’s hand lightly. Kanda let go of his grip on the cart long enough to tug Allen’s hood down, exposing him and his dark roots to the harsh fluorescent lights. “Hey! It’s not my fault all you buy is noodles and green tea.”

“We can’t live off that, Kanda,” Lenalee said seriously, gradually sliding down Lavi’s chest. Lavi stopped the cart again to adjust her, rolling his eyes.

“Why am I the responsible one when we go shopping? I hate it. I did not agree to this arrangement,” he grumbled, steering the cart slowly. “I don’t like being responsible. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It tastes like adulthood.”

Allen laughed, pulling his hood up lazily. “You’re the only one that functions well this late at night. It’s your burden to bear. Also, turn here.”

Lavi complied, nudging the cart with his foot to correct its slight list to the left. “You need to get out of the cart, asshole.”

“Absolutely not,” Allen sniffed, stretching a hand out towards the row of boxes of hair dye on the shelf. “Kanda, be a dear and get me that box please?”

Kanda shuffled around the cart, grabbing blindly at the box Allen pointed at. Lenalee snickered, stepping off the cart to adjust her pajamas before climbing back on. Lavi allowed it, if only to get them finished faster. “Is that all?”

“For me, yeah.” Allen set the box on his chest, limbs sprawling out of the cart again. He waved his hand regally, shooting Lavi a grin. “Continue.”

“I hate this.” Lavi steered the cart along with no further incidents, only herding Kanda back twice. Lenalee fell asleep against his chest at one point, and he had to figure out a way to not let her dead weight fall off the cart, but he managed.

“Next time,” he vowed, glancing at Kanda as he pushed the cart outside. “Next time for sure, we’ll go shopping at a decent time.”

Kanda shrugged. “That’s what you said last time too.”


	7. Chapter 7

The digital clock on Allen’s desk flashed half past three in the morning, the numbers blurring green as his eyes drooped. A hand shifted on his chest, sliding lower as its owner settled more comfortably against his side. Someone’s legs tangled with his, and he stifled a groan as the heat around him grew unbearable.

Fingers tangled into his hair, tugging half-heartedly, and Kanda’s voice broke through the stillness, groggy with sleep. “Shh…”

“It’s hot,” Allen whispered in response, huffing indignantly as someone’s bare legs ended up on top of his, pinning him in place. “It’s gross.”

“Shut up an’ go to sleep,” Lavi breathed into his shoulder, an arm snaking around Allen’s waist to cling more securely. Lenalee hummed in agreement, resting her head on Allen’s chest fully, Kanda’s fingers brushing against his side as he shifted closer as well.

The warmth was stifling, and Allen could feel himself sweating as he wiggled out from under everyone’s touch. “Go away? Why is everyone in my bed?”

Lavi’s hold on his waist tightened, and Kanda grabbed his right arm in a surprisingly strong grip for someone still half asleep. Together they dragged Allen back down again, and Lenalee resumed her position halfway across his chest.

Allen whined, rolling his eyes as the others pressed closer. “You’re all terrible roommates.”

“Just admit you love us and go to sleep,” Lenalee said, tucking herself under his arm.

“I hate you all,” Allen yawned, letting himself relax under the soft touches, the muted sounds of crickets lulling him back to sleep.

* * *

Kanda woke up to an unbearable heat and the dulcet tones of someone complaining out in the hall. He wondered for a moment if he cared enough to get out of bed, but his sheets were sticking to his skin uncomfortably, and the muffled noises were getting louder and more strident as the minutes ticked by.

Bracing himself for whatever nonsense he was going to deal with, Kanda rolled out of bed and opened his door.

To his immense displeasure Lenalee, Allen, and Lavi were standing outside his door, all in various stages of undress.

Allen nodded absently to him in greeting, wiggling out of his shirt with an irritated sigh. “The landlord says the HVAC system is broken, so we’re all without A/C until further notice.”

Lenalee, wearing one of Lavi’s t-shirts and nothing else, scowled. “It’s _hot_ out though. What are we supposed to do?”

“It’s not so bad, Lena,” Lavi hummed, wrapping his arms around Lenalee. “It’s only 101 degrees out.”

Allen exchanged a look with Kanda, rolling his eyes at the downright murderous look Lenalee shot Lavi. “You’re clearly an alien and you have no say in the matter, so shut up.”

Lavi smiled sheepishly, removing his arms and sliding closer to Kanda. Even with a few inches between them, Kanda could feel the heat radiating off him. Kanda recoiled in disgust. “What _are_ you?”

The redhead shrugged. “Fuck if I know.”

“Right. Well.” Allen kicked his pants off vindictively, tossing them over his shoulder. “I’m going to go lie down in the kitchen and hope I don’t melt.”

“I’m going with you,” Lenalee sighed, zipping past them and out the hall. “I call the freezer!”

Allen swore under his breath and hurried after her, leaving Lavi and Kanda out in the hall.

Kanda stared at Lavi for a second, shook his head, and trailed after Allen to the kitchen. It was too hot to seriously contemplate the fact that his roommate might be an extraterrestrial.


	8. Chapter 8

Dinner was never meant to be as much of an ordeal as it usually turned out to be, but Allen could see why it ended up the way it did.

Because dinner alone is _fine_. They take turns every night or every other night to make something, and the others eat it, and it works as a system. But an actual Dinner, where all four have to work together to make something appealing and edible is honestly more trouble than it’s worth.

(It doesn’t stop them from trying, but Allen would really like for them to reconsider.)

“What are we making?” Lenalee asked with a heavy sigh for the millionth time that evening, leaning on Lavi’s shoulder while he scrolled aimlessly through his phone. He made a noncommittal noise, dropping his head on the counter with a painfully solid thunk, phone still held aloft for Lenalee to see.

“I dunno.”

Allen peeked into the fridge in hopes for a snack at the very least, only to have Kanda physically shove the door shut in his face. “We’re making dinner,” he ground out, irritation clear on his face, marching Allen back to the counter. “Don’t start eating shit before dinner.”

“I’m _hungry_ ,” he replied, voice high and whiny. “We’ve been arguing about what to make for _hours_! I’m going to waste away if I don’t eat something now.”

Kanda rolled his eyes, pinching Allen’s arm for good measure before taking a seat across from Lenalee. “And what a tragedy that would be, huh?”

“I am going to murder you both and no jury in the world will ever convict me,” Lavi muttered, still lying face-first on the counter, going positively boneless when Lenalee ran her fingers through his hair soothingly.

“Can we please just pick something? Honestly, I’ll eat anything at this point.” Lenalee added, letting Allen drop dramatically onto her back with minimal complaint. “Please? Anything.”

“Or let’s order take out?” Re-energized, Lavi sat up, patting blindly for their drawer full of takeout menus. “Please? Kanda can even pick the place—“

“I hate every place in that drawer.” Kanda sighed, pressing his cheek against the cool counter. Even his hair seemed defeated, strands limp across his face. “Let’s just make something.”

“Make what?” Lenalee asked again, rolling her eyes at the distressed noises above her.

Kanda shrugged. Lavi wheezed, reaching across to slap him with a handful of takeout menus. Lenalee let him, slowly sinking in her seat with Allen’s weight on her shoulders. “I’m so hungry…”

“Can we all agree that the problem is Kanda’s refusal to eat anything new?” Lavi crossed his arms with a huff, prompting Kanda to slide off his seat and stalk menacingly towards the redhead. It didn’t do much, since Lavi was still more than a few inches taller than him, but it did make for some ridiculous posturing.

Lenalee snapped a couple of pictures for the sake of posterity, and Allen grinned. “Okay, now, _kiss_.”

It was uncanny how in synch they managed to be when flipping Allen off.

“I think this is what hell feels like,” Lenalee murmured, swiping the take out menus back into their drawer with a sigh.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i want lavi and allen to accidentally wear the same thing like we did that one time, pick ur au. lavis like TWINSIES and allens like i dont know him @hellrnasker

Lavi made it to the movie theater with ten minutes to spare, breathless and disheveled but in one piece, immediately spotting the group of four idling outside. He waved, whistling sharply to get their attention when he realized not one of them was paying attention.

Allen was the first to look up, eyes immediately widening as he approached. He said something to Alma that Lavi wasn’t able to catch, and Alma responded with a startled laugh that rang loudly across the parking lot.

“I need to go home immediately right now,” was the first thing out of Allen’s mouth when Lavi reached them, looking entirely too disappointed with him as Alma continued to giggle. “It’s _urgent_.”

Lenalee, apparently engrossed in her battle, didn’t even bother looking away from her phone, but Kanda managed a wheezing snort at Lavi’s expense when Alma caught his attention. “Holy shit.”

“I need to _go_ ,” Allen stressed, face pinched as he appraised Lavi. Or rather, appraised his clothes, the floral print on his shirt surprisingly familiar.

It took Lavi longer than he cared to admit to realize what was wrong. “Oh!”

“I can’t believe it,” Alma laughed over Allen’s groan, looking up at Lavi. “Did you plan this?”

“Nope!” He honestly didn’t know if the shirt he was wearing was originally his, or if he had just taken it from Allen and forgotten to give it back, but it was a happy coincidence regardless. Lavi grinned, slinging an arm around Allen’s shoulders. “We’re twinsies!”

“I’m offended,” Allen said, squirming under Lavi. “I need to change. This shirt has been tainted.”

“Sucks to suck.” Kanda glanced at his watch, taking Lenalee’s phone to battle. “The movie starts in five minutes. You won’t make it back in time.”

“I can’t go in there _matching_ with him!” Allen finally managed to break free from Lavi’s grip, tugging at his shirt forlornly. “They’ll think _I_ have a shit fashion sense too! I can’t do that!”

“Because your reputation is on the line, right?” Lenalee smiled, slipping her arm through Alma’s. “We need to go inside now, by the way.”

“I don’t know you,” Allen deadpanned, striding towards the doors like a man condemned. “I  _refuse_.”


	10. Chapter 10

“What the hell are you wearing?” 

Lavi falters at the door, glancing down at his clothes. “What?”

Kanda’s face is pinched, and he stares at him critically as he burrows deeper into his coat. “You’re an abomination.”

“Aren’t you cold?” Lenalee sniffs, fighting the remnants of a cold, tucking Lavi’s scarf tighter around her neck. 

“Not really.” Lavi tugs at the collar of his t-shirt, ignoring the look of disdain Allen shoots him. “It’s fine? I’m not cold!”

“Please put on a fucking jacket,” Allen sighs, herding Lenalee and Kanda away from him. “I’m cold just looking at you.” 

* * *

Allen nearly fainted at the sight of Lenalee marching into their apartment, Lavi in tow. The front of her shirt was drenched in blood, and she had a smear of it on her chin, but there is a fire burning in her eyes.

“Why the hell are you _bleeding_?” Allen gasped, stumbling over himself in an effort to reach her. 

“She got in a fight,” Lavi whispered with an edge of hysteria in his voice. 

“They deserved it,” Lenalee snapped, voice thick and stuffy. She didn’t elaborate, and Lavi didn’t seem inclined to add anything. 

Allen knew when to pick his battles, and this was not one he would win. “I’ll go get the first aid kit.”

* * *

 

“I have so much sand in places that should definitely not have sand,” Allen says, wiggling his head feebly as Lavi continues to pile sand around him; his body’s already well covered, and Kanda’s set himself the task of building as many inappropriately-shaped towers on him as possible.

“Shh, you’re a sand guardian, guardian of the sand,” Lavi pats his head, gently lowering a bucket over his head. “Now stay still, I’m gonna build a castle on your head.”

“You’re the worst,” Lenalee sighs, voice distant through the bucket on Allen’s head. “Just make sure you don’t leave him there like last time.”

* * *

 

“Truth or dare is a terrible game and I regret all of my life choices,” Lavi says, knuckles white around the bottle of hot sauce.

“It won’t kill you,” Allen hums, and Lavi doesn’t think he’s in any position to speak because his tastebuds have long since burned off, and frankly that’s just unfair.

“Maybe it will,” Kanda adds, ignoring Lenalee’s punch as she prepares a glass of milk for the fallout. “Hopefully it will.”

“I’ll be sure to haunt you if it does,” Lavi taps the bottle on the counter, shoots a quick prayer to whatever deity is watching over him, and proceeds to chug the bottle.

* * *

 

Kanda hates the snow so much; his hands are numb and his face is numb and there is _snow in his shirt what the actual fuck_ –

–and Lavi’s pissing himself laughing, a snowball in each hand as he takes aim at Kanda again, until Lenalee tackles him into the snowbank, and that sort of makes it okay, he guesses. 

He takes a step, or tries to, wading through the knee-deep snow, swearing under his breath. The door is only a few feet away, and he’s so close, _so close_ , the snow trying to drag him into the frozen depths even as he reaches for the doorknob.

He drags himself onto the porch, shaking as much snow off him as possible, and tugs on the door, wiggling the doorknob, and the swearing’s much louder now because he knows he left it unlocked, they made sure of it before they stepped outside.

Muffled laughter catches his attention, and with murder in his eyes, Kanda looks up at the window, and at the smug little white-haired shit that locked them out.

* * *

 

He set out to make Mother’s chicken soup for no other reason than he was craving it and it was as cold as Kanda’s shriveled heart in their apartment.

And while, _sure_ , he had never made it before, he had seen Baba make it plenty of times. It seemed easy enough, and as luck would have it, they had all the ingredients in their fridge.

Filled with determination, Allen got to work, sleeves rolled up past his elbows, the vaguest of memories spurring him on.

Frankly, he wasn’t a bad cook. He hadn’t had a chance to show off his culinary skills before, but since everyone was out at work, this was the perfect time. In fact, they would probably appreciate something warm after being out in the snow all day.

“Yeah!” He whispered to himself, chopping the vegetables, and—

Oh. Well.

It was just a little blood. It was okay.

Maybe he’d save the vegetables for later. He could work on the stock first, and have that simmering while he dealt with a chicken. If he turned up the range a little higher, he would probably be able to finish before everyone got home.

===

Kanda wished he felt anything other than a deep sense of apathy at the sight of the firetrucks in front of their apartment.

He felt nothing. It was probably for the best.

Dreading the conversation, he parked his van and slowly shambled past the thinning crowd of onlookers, zeroing in on the mortified-looking beansprout being lectured by three firefighters. Lenalee stood behind him, her fist pressed against her lips to keep from laughing or crying.

“He almost burned down the apartment,” a voice said behind him, and Kanda was glad to see that Lavi was also equally unsurprised by this turn of events.

“We’re never getting the security deposit back,” Kanda mused, watching Allen nearly trip over himself to apologize to the firefighters.

“No we are not,” Lavi agreed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quickfics i never posted on ao3 oops


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ot4 modern roommates au where every but Lena is sick and she looks after them. Then when they're all better she gets sick and they look after her :D

Wednesday morning, Lenalee woke up before her alarm clock went off to the sounds of someone violently heaving in the bathroom.

Half-asleep, she stumbled from her room to the bathroom, peeking in through the cracked door. Allen looked up at her blearily, crouched over the toilet, sweaty and out of breath. He might have mumbled something or other, but she couldn’t catch anything over the sound of him retching.

“Jeez, Allen,” she whispered, voice thick with sleep as she knelt down to rub his back. He whimpered in response, dropping his head heavily against the porcelain. “Did you eat something bad?”

He shrugged weakly, spitting into the toilet. “I feel awful…”

“I can tell.” She pressed the back of her hand against his forehead, sliding it down to his cheek. Even in the early morning chill, he was too hot, and he was clammy under her touch. “You’re burning up…hold on.”

“Not going anywhere,” he gurgled, shoulders trembling as he returned to face the toilet. Sighing, she slipped out of the bathroom, tiptoeing past Kanda and Lavi’s rooms to the kitchen. It was quiet, the only light coming from the clock on the microwave, and she banged her hip against a counter as she fumbled in the dark for a cup.

Filling it to the brim, she began her slow trek back to the bathroom, holding the water out to Allen. “Here.”

He nodded his thanks, rinsing his mouth out while she searched through the bathroom cabinets for medicine. “Do you want something for the fever or for the vomiting?”

“Fever, I guess.” He slid back on the tiles, resting his back against the wall. In the mirror, Lenalee could see tear tracks on his cheeks.

“Should we take you to the ER?” She asked, twisting the cap off a bottle of painkillers.

Allen wrinkled his nose, holding a hand out for the pills. “Rather not…I don’t think it’s that bad.”

“Do you mean it, or are you just saying that because you don’t want to deal with hospital bills?” He smiled sheepishly but didn’t respond, gulping down the pills with a sigh.

Sometimes he was so stubborn. It’d be endearing if it wasn’t life threatening most of the time.

“Come on, Al…” She helped him up, slowly leading him back to his room. “Try to sleep it off, alright? I’ll bring you some more medicine in the morning.”

“Sure,” he murmured, unceremoniously flopping onto his bed. “Don’t you have class?”

“Yeah. I’ll check on you when I can, though. Kanda and Lavi too, if they can manage it.” Lenalee smiled reassuringly, brushing the hair away for his forehead. He still felt warm, but hopefully it would pass with some sleep. He nodded slowly, and drifted off into a fitful sleep.

Sighing to herself, Lenalee returned to her bedroom. If she was lucky, she’d catch a couple more hours of sleep too.

After her alarm went off, the morning passed in a blur; she vaguely recalled checking on Allen, and leaving a note for Kanda and Lavi to keep an eye on their youngest roommate, but after that, she was swept away in a flurry of lectures and assignments, a mild headache pounding at her temples adding insult to injury. By the time she got home, it was late afternoon, the sun slowly setting in a blaze of orange.

Inside their apartment, however, it was pitch black.

Frowning, Lenalee patted the wall, fumbling for the light switch, keys still gripped tightly in her free hand. Her fingers brushed the switch, and with a sigh, she flipped it on.

The room was suddenly bathed with light, and with the illumination came a sudden, confused groan. She watched as an unidentified lump on the couch sat up, and stifled a giggle as a red head poked out a mass of blankets.

“Hey,” Lavi rasped, blinking owlishly in the bright light. “Lights off, please?”

Lenalee complied, picking her way in the dark to the couch. “Aren’t you supposed to be working right now?”

“Feel like shit.” He sounded like it too, but Lenalee didn’t comment. Instead, she patted the couch, pressing her fingers into the mound of blankets until she found a free spot.

“What’s wrong?” She sat on the edge of the couch, hands wandering across fleece until she reached Lavi’s face. His cheeks (or what she assumed was his cheeks, she wasn’t sure, quite honestly) felt extremely hot, but she couldn’t tell if it was from a fever, or from his time under the blankets.

He whined under her hands, but pressed closer anyways, sniffling piteously. “Throat hurts. Head hurts. I hurt.”

“I’ll bring you something in a second.” She patted his cheeks lightly, standing. “Did you check on Allen?”

“Nah.” He shifted, the blankets tipping precariously off the edge of the couch. “Yuu did. Said he looked like hell.”

“Right.” She hoped whatever the boys had wasn’t contagious. That was the last thing she need. “Let me check on him.”

“Sure,” he enthused weakly, rolling over on the couch, the mass of blankets wrapping around him.

Shaking her head, Lenalee walked to her room, stopping long enough to dump her books on her bed before turning to Allen. The door was cracked open, and a sliver of orange bled in through the cracked blinds.

Allen appeared to be dozing, but looked up when his door creaked open. “Welcome home…”

“How’re you feeling?” Lenalee sat on his bed, pressing her hand against his forehead. He was still warm, but not as bad as he had been earlier.

Allen shrugged, scrubbing at his face. “Achey. Hungry. Kanda threw some crackers at me earlier from the door.” He waved the sleeve of crackers as evidence, smiling at Lenalee’s laugh. “I could be worse.”

“It’s probably just a bug,” she said, pinching his cheek lightly. “It’s going around at school. Lavi’s sick too.”

“I heard.” Allen rolled his eyes, shooting her a fond grin. “I could hear him all the way over here. He’s so dramatic, you’d think he had the plague or something.”

“Maybe he does,” Lenalee teased, patting his leg. “Do you need anything before I go handle Lavi?”

“Food. Real food, please. People food.” He watched her walk to the door, waving the crackers at her in outrage. “This? I can’t live off this, Lena. I’m not a bird. Lena!”

“Eat your crackers, Polly.” She ignored his pleading, walking back to the darkened living room. “Lavi? Have you been throwing up too?”

“No?” His muffled reply barely reached her through the layers of blankets. “Hurts to swallow though.”

“Alright…I’m turning the lights on, okay? Cover your head or whatever.” She gave him a moment to adjust before turning the lights on again, digging through their pantry for a couple of cans of soup.

Her head hurt a little more now, the pounding behind her eyes growing beyond mild irritation, but she ignored it. It was probably just stress. Once she finished with Lavi and Allen, she could take a nice, soothing bath and unwind.

At least, that was the plan, until Kanda slammed into the apartment with a scowl. He stalked down to his room without so much as a glance, the door rattling shut behind him. Lavi huffed at the sudden onslaught of noise, retreating back into his blanket fortress when Lenalee shushed him.

_Priorities, Lenalee. Priorities_. She set a mug of soup on the coffee table in the living room, tapping at the lump she assumed was Lavi’s head to get his attention. Once she was sure he was aware there was food in the vicinity, she took a bowl of soup to Allen, eyeing Kanda’s door warily.

Allen lit up when Lenalee walked in, immediately going from elated to disgruntled as he sniffed at the soup. “This is a sham. A can sham. It’s not even real soup.”

“Shut up and eat it,” Lenalee chided, helping Allen into an upright position. “You can complain about people food if you can keep this down.”

With her two patients taken care of, Lenalee squared her shoulders and marched to Kanda’s door, wiggling the doorknob. “I’m coming in, Kanda. Fair warning.”

“Don’t!” Lenalee ignored him, shoving the door open.

Kanda sat on his bed, glowering at her, a box of tissues in his lap. His nose was bright red, and even as she watched, he sniffled loudly. Still glaring, though.

Lenalee felt her headache get worse. “Are you sick too?”

“No.” He sneered, gripping the box of tissues. “It’s just allergies.”

It would have sounded much more convincing if he didn’t sound so congested. “You don’t get allergies, Kanda.”

“I do too.” He coughed into his tissue, heavy and wet, disgust clear on his face. “I’m not sick.”

“Denying it won’t make it any less real, you know.” Lenalee watched him for a moment, shaking her head. “I’ll bring you some soup.”

“I’m not sick!”

* * *

Allen’s bug cleared out in two days, and Kanda’s cold followed soon after. Lavi needed antibiotics to deal with whatever infection he was fighting, but after a week, he was fit as a fiddle too.

Lenalee, though. Lenalee was well and truly fucked.

The cold she could have worked through easily enough. It would have been miserable, but she could have managed. It was the bug and the infection plus the cold that knocked her on her ass and put her out of commission for a week and a half.

If she had one medicine for one thing, she had to make sure it didn’t react with another thing, and so on, and the headache never really went away throughout the entire ordeal. It sucked. The only upside was that she had three very attentive roommates checking on her at all times.

“I still don’t see how it’s fair for me to do your homework for you,” Lavi muttered, sitting on her floor with her books spread out in front of him. “You didn’t do my homework when I was sick.”

“It’s your fault she’s sick in the first place,” Allen said, carrying in a bowl of soup. “And she took care of your dramatic ass without complaint.”

“And you did your own homework anyways, idiot,” Kanda pointed out, easing Lenalee up. Lavi huffed, jostling his leg halfheartedly.

“You guys got her sick too,” he grumbled, tapping his chin with a pen. “It’s not all my fault.”

“It’s mostly your fault, then.”

Lenalee was very sick, and very tired, and everything hurt, yes. Would she want to get sick again? Absolutely not. But being in her room, surrounded by the people she cared about most, made it all a bit more bearable.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> based on this post [here](http://kandayuu.tumblr.com/post/119886265634/road-trip-au-for-ur-group)

“All those in favor of taking away Lavi’s music rights raise your hand.” Lavi squawked indignantly as three arms shot up.

“What? _Why_?”

Kanda spared him a look through the rearview mirror. “I’m not listening to your oldies shit for another three hours.”

“But _Sinatra_?” He seemed genuinely flabbergasted, leaning in to drape his arms across Lenalee’s backrest. “The Andrews Sisters? Bing Crosby?” He patted Lenalee’s cheeks, whining.

“I’d put up with the brat’s hipster indie bullshit over your vintage playlists any day.” Kanda muttered, tossing the aux cord in the backseat.

Allen swiped it before Lavi had a chance, cheerfully plugging in his iPod. “I’m not a hipster but I appreciate it.”

“That’s not all I have, though!” Lavi sulked, squeezing Lenalee’s cheeks. She rolled her eyes, pinching the back of his hand lightly.

“We’re not listening to the _Shrek_ soundtrack again.” Sighing dramatically, Lavi flopped back in his seat, halfheartedly tugging on the aux cord until Allen slapped his hand away.

* * *

“Are we there yet?” Lavi ignored him, prompting Allen to scoot closer to the driver’s seat, resting his chin on the backrest. “Lavi, are we there yet?”

“Please look out the window and tell me what you see.”

Allen complied, peeking out at the scenery. “Dirt. And cacti. And hills? Are those hills or mountains?”

“Then no, we aren’t there yet.” Allen groaned, squirming in his seat.

“I need to use the restroom.”

Lavi resisted the urge to dig his palms into his eyes, mostly because he was driving. Kanda slouched in his seat, glaring out the window at the dark sky. “Lenalee if you don’t shut him up I’ll leave him right here.”

“I hate being in the car with all of you at the same time,” Lenalee said, stretching her legs out onto Allen’s lap. “If I ever suggest a road trip again please remind me that you’re all terrible.”

“We’re not so bad, usually…” Lavi hummed, stifling a yawn. “Who’s driving next?”

“I’ll do it.” Kanda sighed, stretching his arms over his head. “Anything to get some quiet.”

“Good luck with that, the way Lavi snores.” Allen sniffed, tracing the designs on Lenalee’s leggings. She laughed at the sensation, batting his hands away.

* * *

“What time is it?” Lenalee yawned, scrubbing the sleep from her eyes. Allen was still asleep on her shoulder, hands loosely twined together.

“Early. Or late.” Kanda shrugged, pulling into a gas station. “Depends on how you look at it.”

“Do you need help?” She whispered, gently setting Allen to the side. He mumbled a bit in his sleep but didn’t wake.

“Sure, I guess.” Kanda slipped out of the car with a groan, stretching while Lenalee hurried around. She looked a mess, hair sticking up in messy spikes, remnants of a blue slush on her sweater, but she smiled radiantly as she tugged him to the shop, dropping snacks into his waiting arms.

“Should we have woken them up?” She asked, carefully tucking a bag of Doritos under Kanda’s chin.

“Nah. Let ‘em sleep.” He rolled his eyes at her sly smile, making his way to the checkout counter. “They’ll be quiet for longer this way, shut up.”

“You love us,” she grinned, following quickly. “You really love us.”

“I hate you all,” he deadpanned, handing the money to the sleepy attendant. “Especially you.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell them.” Beaming, she scooped up the food on the counter and skipped back to the car.


	13. Chapter 13

“I have never been so disappointed in my life in you, Kanda.”

The pug was an ugly little thing, black with a silver spotted muzzle, and as Allen watched it let out a truly atrocious fart. Allen groaned, frantically waving his hand in front of his face in an effort to waft fresh air to his lungs. “I am _appalled_ , what the fuck?”

“He’s amazing,” Kanda said, and Allen would be damned if the bastard didn’t have a proud look on his face.

Alma, for their part, seemed appropriately contrite, rubbing their neck sheepishly when Allen turned his gaze on them. “We fucked up.”

“ _You_ fucked up,” Kanda corrected, crouching down to pet the pug. It snorted eagerly, wheezing with exertion as it hauled itself onto Kanda’s lap, and farted again.

The look Alma shot Allen was pained. “I fucked up.”

“I can see that, darling.” Kanda ignored them pointedly, scooping the pug into his arms. It seemed happy to settle there, tongue lolling without a care in the world.

“Care to explain how this happened?” Allen asked, reaching out to poke one of the wrinkles on the pug’s forehead. The pug turned to follow his finger, snorting softly in what Allen assumed was supposed to be a sniff. “He’s hideous.”

“ _You’re_ hideous,” Kanda snapped, defensive over the little wrinkle. “I love him and he’s staying.”

“I can’t believe you.” Allen sighed reproachfully, slouching back on the couch. “Alma, we _trusted_ you. You’ve failed us.”

“I didn’t know they were going to have free adoptions.” Groaning, Alma sank down beside Allen, physically pushing Kanda plus Pug away with a soft, “Ew, no, Yuu.”

“Out of the four of us, I never thought Kanda would be the first to impulse-buy a pet.” Allen mused, taking a picture of the pug mid yawn to send to Lavi and Lenalee. “I’m a little offended. You cost me ten dollars.”

“Good, you deserve it for betting against me,” Kanda muttered, turning the pug in his arms so it rested against his chest like a baby. “I’m not getting rid of him, I’m serious.”

“You’re paying the pet fee then.”  Allen snorted, angling his phone towards Alma to show them Lavi’s string of laugh-crying emojis. “That’s pretty accurate, isn’t it?”

“I tried to convince him to get a cat,” Alma hummed, picking at a loose string on their skirt. “But you know how he is with dogs…”

“Not really, but Lenalee’s told me stories.” Struck with a sudden thought, Allen scrambled out of his seat. “Hey! I can get a snake now!”

“You’re not getting a snake!” Kanda snapped, setting the dog on Alma’s lap before bounding after the white-haired brat. “You’re not buying a fucking snake!”

“You got a dog!” Allen laughed. Alma twisted in their seat, peeking over the couch to watch their stand-off at the front door. Allen feinted left, and Kanda, perhaps in his haste, fell for it, letting Allen squirrel around him from the right and out the door with a gleeful cackle.

The dog in Alma’s lap sneezed.

“Same,” Alma replied.


	14. Chapter 14

“I’m all for irresponsible spur of the moment ideas,” Lavi huffed, leaning heavily against Allen’s door. “And I totally think this is rad, but honestly Al? Gotta give a guy a little warning.”

Allen ignored him, and Kanda suspected it had less to do with Lavi’s whining and more with the brightly colored _whatever_ lodged in the beansprout’s mouth. He managed to make some noncommittal noise around it, carting an armful of shit from his dresser to his bed.

Lavi heaved another sigh, rolling his eyes at Kanda while shifting his grip on the large tank in his arms. “This is all your fault, you know. I blame you and your farty dog.”

“Agreed,” Lenalee muttered under her breath, ducking under Lavi plus tank to enter Allen’s room fully. “You’re all assholes.” And though she said that, she still marched to Allen’s desk to clear it out for the tank.

“I can’t believe you bought a fucking snake,” Kanda said, raising his voice to be heard over the sudden clatter of books meeting tiled floor courtesy of Lenalee. “A fucking snake, _moyashi_.”

Allen paused in his rearranging only to wipe his face with his crop top and flip Kanda off. “I beg your fucking pardon? I couldn’t hear you over the sound of your utter hypocrisy, Kanda.”

“The dog was free,” Kanda defended, moving to help relocate things from the desk to the bed.  “And I did a good thing, adoption is important. You just went and bought a _snake_.”

“Now I feel like I have to one-up you two,” Lavi joked, bracing the tank against the doorframe. “Maybe I should go out and get a pet. An emu, maybe. An alpaca.”

“Buy an alpaca and you’ll-paca your way out of this apartment,” Lenalee vowed, gathering the fallen books and placing them on the sagging bed.  Huffing a wisp of hair from her face, she rounded on Allen. “Also, this is a bad idea and that snake better not end up in my bed.”

“It’s a snake, it can’t open doors. I’m sure you’ll be safe.” Allen finished clearing off his desk, crumpling a handful of papers against his leg. “You can set the tank down now, Lavi.”

“Oh, thank fuck.” Lavi lumbered into the room, setting the tank down on the desk with a groan. “I don’t get why I had to hold it instead of, y’know, just setting it on the floor until you were done.”

“I never said you had to hold it,” Allen turned to face his bed, a critical frown on his face. “You assumed. Anyways, now on to the cleanup.”

“I didn’t sign up for this,” Kanda said, and was largely ignored.

The four settled into a comfortable rhythm, Allen’s iPod playing softly in the background as they sorted through his things. Kanda helped start a small trash pile on the floor, which Allen would have appreciated had he not have to look through it every so often.

“Hey, where do you want me to put this?” Lenalee asked, raising a small clay bowl into the air. The edges were rounded, soft brown deepening into a rich red at the center. It took Kanda a second to realize it was shaped like a flower.

Allen gasped, reaching over with a grin. “Oh! I was wondering where these had gone!” Almost reverently, he took the bowl from her hands, balancing it on his knee. “There should be a few more around.”

A quick search produced six more bowls, each decorated in striking colors. A couple were shaped like flowers or leaves, and one notably had a scorch of black across the green and gold design at its center. “Oh, this brings back memories…” Allen huffed, smiling fondly down at the bowl.

“Don’t leave us in suspense, Allen,” Lenalee grinned, leaning over to inspect the other bowls curiously. “What are they?”

“Oh, they’re my diyas. They’re oil lamps.” Allen said, hefting a larger bowl up for the others to see. It shone softly in the light, the paint almost metallic in red and gold. He poked at the indentation at the edge of the bowl, where the leaf’s stem would be. “See, this is where the wick goes, and you fill it with oil and put them around the house for the night. Narain sends me one every year after Diwali. I think this one’s my favorite so far.”

“Narain’s your friend from India, right?” It wasn’t often Allen spoke of his travels, and rarer still to hear him talk about India, but what little they managed to gather seemed to spark fond memories in him.

Allen nodded, holding out the blue diya to Lenalee. “This one was my first diya. We happened to be in Jaipur, Cross and I…on our way to Delhi, I think? And we stayed a week with a friend of Cross. It was my first time being in India during Diwali, and that’s where I met Narain and his sister. They took me everywhere, it felt like. Madhuri – she’s Narain’s sister – she made this stunning rangoli out of colored flour. It’s supposed to be good luck, and the designs are all different.”

He grinned, brushing at the scorch mark with his thumb. “I can’t even describe how amazing it was. Colors and flowers and food all around, oh, and the _lights_ …” He gave a wistful sigh, sliding the diyas over to his friends. “It’s unbelievable.”

“It’s the festival of lights, right?” Lavi asked, passing the diya in his lap to Kanda. “I’ve heard about it but I’ve never been to a celebration.”

“They have celebrations back home every year, but it’s nothing like the real thing,” Allen hummed, leaning back on his arms. “They have fireworks and the whole lot in Manchester, but it just _feels_ different actually being in Delhi or Vrindavan or Jaipur.”

“And the food!” Eager, Allen sat up, patting through the mess on his floor. “Oh, the food is _amazing_! Narain told me that some places only make certain foods for Diwali, so you can only get it once a year.”

“Of course you’d remember the food,” Kanda muttered. Now that he mentioned it, though, much of the stuff strewn across Allen’s floor seemed to be souvenirs from his travels, pictures and trinkets mixing with his textbooks and sheets of music. “This is all stuff Narain sent you?”

“Not all of it, but most, yeah.” Allen plucked a bangle out between a stack of books, offering it to Lenalee with a grin. “He says it’s so that I can have a little piece of home with me.”

“How long did you live in Delhi?” Lavi asked, using a stack of books as a pillow.

“Up until Mana adopted me.” Shrugging, Allen slid back against Lenalee. “It wasn’t long, and I don’t remember too much of it, but it’s where I’m from.”

“You were raised in Manchester though, right?”  Lenalee slid the bangle on, waving it in Kanda’s face. Kanda batted it away, gripping her wrist and biting it when she persisted.

“Yeah, for the most part. Lived in Liverpool for a year with Cross, but Manchester’s where all the family still lives.” Allen wrinkled his nose as Lenalee yanked her arm away from Kanda, sliding down to rest his head against her leg. “Except Tyki, but honestly fuck if anyone knows where Tyki is at any point in time.”

“Would you want to go back?” Lavi kicked his legs up on Kanda’s lap, pinning him down effectively. Kanda considered fighting his way out, but he was tired, and if they sat around and talked they would have less time to do snake prep.

Allen nodded. “I’d like to. I miss visiting. Maybe to see Narain.”  

“Maybe we can save up and go with you.” Lenalee suggested, running her fingers through Allen’s hair and not so subtly wiping the drool from her wrist in the process.

“Oh absolutely not, I hate the lot of you,” Allen laughed, hauling himself up to drape dramatically over Lenalee and Lavi, gasping when they turned to tickle him.

Perhaps drawn by the noise, Kanda’s pug trotted in, all lolling tongues and eager snorts. He took it upon himself to climb over Kanda, onto Lavi’s legs, and sprawled onto Lenalee and Allen, letting out a truly deafening fart that had all of them scrambling out of the room to safety.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [here's a clip about Diwali if you want to learn more!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPwmXRws7FA)


	15. Chapter 15

Lavi enjoyed lazy weekends. He rarely made plans before noon, and made it a point to sleep as late as he possibly could. It wasn’t always successful, but he tried.

He was having good luck this weekend, too. No one had called him or texted him, and he would have been well on his way to sleeping the day away if someone hadn’t barged into the apartment _howling_.

Groaning into his pillow, he debated getting up – which would involve putting actual clothes on – or letting whatever disaster go on without him.

Lenalee made the decision for him, knocking on his door twice before walking in anyways. “Lavi, are you awake?”

“Yeah, but I wish I wasn’t,” he mumbled into the pillow. “Who’s dyin’ out there?”

“Kanda will be,” she said cheerfully; Lavi turned his head to stare at her blearily, barely making out Lenalee’s bright grin. He couldn’t tell if she was actually happy, or so furious that she defaulted into chipper-but-deadly.

“Why’s he gonna die?” He asked at length, patting his nightstand for his glasses.

“He got another dog.”

Lavi snorted, pushing himself off his bed with a sigh. “Of course he did…Who screamed?”

“The dog.” Lenalee bent over to pick up a shirt off Lavi’s floor, flinging it at him after a quick sniff test. “The puppy, actually.”

Lavi caught the shirt with a grimace, struggling to catch up with the information being thrown his way. “I thought Kanda was going out with Alma today.”

“Oh, they did.” Lenalee turned and walked out the door, still smiling from what he could tell. “They did and they came back with a new friend.”

“Please tell me he didn’t steal the dog.” Lavi wrestled the shirt on, dragging himself out of the room after Lenalee. “ _Please_ , Lena, I can’t handle another round of dog-napping.”

“I honestly don’t know,” Lenalee said, marching to the living room. “But I am not puppy-proofing this apartment.”

Kanda looked up as they walked in, lying on the floor with a long noodle of a puppy lying on his chest. Alma was watching them forlornly, holding Golem the pug in their arms with a defeated air about them. “I can’t believe you, Yuu.”

The puppy shot up eagerly at the new arrivals, launching off Kanda’s chest and towards Lenalee and Lavi, bouncing around them in circles.

“Kanda, what the fuck, dude?” Lavi asked, holding his hand out for the puppy to sniff. It wiggled in excitement, nipping at his fingers with surprisingly sharp teeth. “Ow? Why?”

“Because he’s got no impulse control.” Alma droned, pinning Kanda with a look. “We just went for a walk. There was a litter. He was going to buy them all.”

“I should have,” Kanda huffed, patting his chest to call the puppy back. “He’ll be lonely without his sisters.”

“He has Golem,” Alma set the pug down on Kanda’s chest, sighing as it curled up for a nap. “That’s why you got the dog in the first place, you idiot.”

“But Golem’s lazy. Mugen’s going to need another puppy to play with.” The puppy – Mugen, Lavi supposed – finished gnawing on Lavi’s fingers and leaped back to Kanda, landing on his chest with surprising vigor. “We should go back and see if they’re still there.”

Lenalee smiled thinly, crossing her arms. “You’re not getting another fucking dog, Kanda.”

“Why not?” Kanda had the gall to sound defensive, covering the puppy’s ears with his hand as if to shield it from Lenalee’s tone. “What’s wrong with it?”

“There’s four people, two dogs, and a snake in this apartment. We barely fit and you want to get another dog?” Lenalee raised her index finger, frowning down at Kanda. “And there’s a $500 pet charge for the apartments, Kanda. _I’m_ not going to pay that. And! Our security deposit?”

“We can kick out the beansprout,” Kanda said automatically, petting the dogs on his chest. “He won’t mind.”

Lavi snorted, watching Mugen roll out from under Kanda’s hands and onto the carpet. “I’m pretty sure he will.”

“It’s going to cost a fortune, Kanda,” Lenalee continued, fingers tapping against her forearm. “And, in case it somehow slipped your mind, we’re all broke.”

“We’re fine,” Kanda dismissed, patting Golem while Mugen explored around his head. “I’ll pay all that shit.”

“Security deposit,” Lenalee repeated, staring at Mugen pointedly. Mugen, eager to begin marking his territory, was taking it upon himself to pee on every piece of furniture in the living room, staring gamely at the humans in the room as he did so.

Kanda faltered, scooping the puppy up mid-stream. “Uh…”

Lavi hummed, squeezing Lenalee’s shoulder in sympathy before turning back the way he had come. “I’m going back to bed.”

* * *

“Y’know, Kanda, I think I underestimated you,” Allen mused, playing with Mugen’s ears as they walked. “I owe you an apology, I think.”

“Why?” Kanda glanced up, Golem cradled in his arms with his tongue sticking out. The dog had given up on their daily walk, and so Kanda had resorted to holding him the rest of the way. 

Allen gestured at Golem, Mugen’s leash wrapped loosely around his wrist. “I was trying to figure out his name, so I looked it up. I wasn’t aware that you were so well-versed in Hebrew texts.”

“I’m not?” Kanda frowned, staring at Allen as if he’d suddenly grown two heads. “What are you talking about?”

“Then…” Allen pursed his lips. “Why did you name your dog ‘Golem’?”

“Alma wanted to name him after the little goblin thing in _Lord of the Rings_.”

Allen breathed in sharply, clicking his tongue against his teeth. “That’s _Gollum_ , you reprobate. Not _Golem_.” 

“Oh.” They both stopped to stare at the dog, who seemed content enough to doze off in Kanda’s arms. As they watched, Golem farted, apparently loud enough to wake himself up. 

“I take my apology back,” Allen said slowly. 

“I guess,” Kanda replied. 

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by @kandayuu on tumblr
> 
> Will probably continue periodically as drabbles, but prompts are welcome at lpwrites.tumblr.com


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